1 November 2013 - 31 May 2014
pilot activity on community-based inventorying in Trinidad and Tobago
Following the national workshop on community-based inventorying of intangible cultural heritage, a pilot activity on community-based inventorying was successfully carried out by the Ministry of the Arts and Multiculturalism (MAM), now the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, from November 2013 to May 2014. During this period, the Soparee Mai Devotions and the Feast of La Divina Pastora was documented. Prior to this inventorying exercise, a training session was held at the Siparia Boys Roman Catholic Primary School, adjacent to the church where the statue of La Divina Pastora is kept and also part of the devotion grounds. Training was facilitated by media specialists, qualified information technology and audio visual technicians who focused on the methods for proper interviewing, multimedia equipment care and operation, lighting techniques, use of tripods, storyboarding, filming, and shot composition to assist the community members in their self-documentation efforts. Through the acquired training on documentation, community members were able to record the Sopari Mai Devotions in April and May 2014. Audio-visual equipment was purchased with project funds to facilitate the pilot inventorying activity, and an additional four sets of similar equipment were purchased from the fund provided by the Ministry.